Read-Speed Patched Firmwares for LiteOn DVD-ROM Drives
======================================================
Patcher: Code65536 (http://codeguys.rpc1.org/)
Release date: 1 July 2004
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# Patched models:
#
LTD-163/XJ-HD163 (plus Dell's OEM LTD-163)
LTD-163D/XJ-HD163D
LTD-165H/XJ-HD165H
LTD-166S/XJ-HD166S (plus Sony's OEM DDU1612)
SOHD-167T (plus Sony's OEM DDU1613)
###
# Disclaimer:
#
We are in no way associated with LiteOn, and this patched firmware is in no way
associated with or supported by LiteOn. Loading this patched firmware will
technically void your warranty! We take NO RESPONSIBILITY for anything that may
result from the use or misuse of this patched firmware. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
###
# What has been patched?
#
1/ +R and -R reading speeds
2/ +RW and -RW reading speeds
3/ DVD9 (dual-layer) reading speeds
4/ +R DL (recordable double-layer) reading speeds (only for the SOHD-167T)
Note that for most users who do not burn DVDs and who do not rip dual-layer
DVDs, these patched firmwares will do nothing for you! LiteOn DVD-ROM drives do
NOT have any movie-industry-inspired video rip-locks in place, so a pressed
single-layer disc can be ripped at the full 16x using just an official firmware!
The patched firmwares are intended for people who have recordable and rewritable
discs in their collection and for people who would like to slightly increase
their dual-layer ripping speeds.
###
# What has changed since the patched firmwares released earlier by The Code Guys
# and by The Dangerous Brothers?
#
1/ RW reading speeds were never properly patched in any of the original patched
firmwares. This oversight has now been corrected.
2/ There is now the option to use a patched firmware with DVD9 (dual-layer)
speeds patched. DVD9 speeds were not initially patched because there were
some reports of reading problems at higher speeds. However, these results do
vary, so instead of deciding for the end-user, We have decided to let the
end-user decide for him/herself, and thus, there is now the option to bump
DVD9 reading speeds to 10x, up from 8x.
3/ The older patched firmwares patched a byte that did not need to be patched.
This byte is no longer is patched. This patched byte also seems to have been
the cause of the SMART-X problems (noisy movie playback) problems reported
with the original patched firmwares.
###
# Installation:
#
1/ First, select the patched firmware that is right for you. The names of the
firmwares should be self-explanatory. If, after loading a firmware, you find
that the speed of that particular firmware was not suitable for you (too fast
or too slow), you can load another one.
2/ If your drive IS NOT a 163/163D, simply double-click on the firmware of your
choice, SELECT THE CORRECT DRIVE, and initiate the flash.
3/ If your drive IS a 163/163D, you will need to use MtkFlash to load the
patched firmware into your drive. You can find MtkFlash at the following
location: http://dhc014.rpc1.org/howto.htm#mtkflash
4/ If you decide to change your mind, you can easily "uninstall" all of these
patches by simply loading a stock (unmodified) firmware into your drive.
There is a copy of the stock firmware included in the package.
###
# How do I make my drive region-free?
#
1/ If your drive IS NOT a 163/163D, you should consult this link:
http://dhc014.rpc1.org/LtnRPC/
2/ If your drive IS a 163/163D, you should consult this link:
http://digi.rpc1.org/rpc.htm
###
# Notes:
#
1/ Except for the name, the XJ-HD drives should be the same as the LTD- drives.
Their firmwares are interchangeable.
2/ For the OEM drives (listed in the patched drives list above), you can use the
corresponding LiteOn firmware (e.g., the firmware for the SOHD-167T if you
have the DDU1613) instead of the OEM firmware if you so desire. Since LiteOn
usually does a better job of maintaining its own firmwares than it does
maintaining its OEM firmwares, this is something that might be worth trying.
3/ Discs booktyped to -ROM should not be affected by these patched firmwares and
should read at the same speeds as normal pressed discs. So, for example, if
you loaded a firmware for 14x +/-R into your drive and then your drive read
a +R disc with a -ROM booktype at 16x, this would be the reason for that.
However, there have been reports of some booktyped discs that get treated
like a normal recordable disc instead of a booktyped disc (thus subject to
the effects of the patched firmware). This may be the result of problems
(incompleteness?) with the booktyping process, as this phenomenon have been
reported with other readers/players produced by other manufacturers.
4/ If you're wondering, no, I did NOT manually patched all of these firmwares.
I wrote an auto-patcher that generated all of the files in the package. Just
in case you were about to say "get a life!" ;-)
###
# Acknowledgements:
#
1/ The Dangerous Brothers, for making the original XJ-HD166S patched firmwares
and for their wonderful knowledge-sharing.
2/ C0deKing, for everything that he's taught me about firmware patching.
3/ The folks at rpc1.org, for providing the webspace.

This patched firmware is based on the official CH12 firmware from LiteOn.

If you have any questions or comments about this patched firmware, or if you would like to share your experiences and results using this patched firmware, please feel free to post in this thread.

thanks Mr code65536 again you are very nice
i have upgraded my 165 with it, value of liteon rom is increased by yours work
even though i have never done any test on firmware upgraded
dvdrom, but obviously, its performance is improve, spinning speed is increased.
at the same time, its noise is increased too (but i dont care it )
however what i care is that whether dvdrom is less durable due to speed increased (with noise come from fiction )?
Any idea on it ?

Originally posted by laststargazer
[B]Thanks for many new great tools/patches!

Is there a way to make same speed unlock for LTD-163? I know that my drive is capable reading burned media 7-16x (look at attachment (+R w/ booktype changed to DVD-ROM) - RICOHJPNR01 burned @8x) [/B]

even though that looks good and is 16x
we code65536 dangerous brothers, brother vlad and me did extensive testing and found from the liteon drives 14x is the max and should be that way becuse of the variations of media tested at 16x is not good.

and the noise and drive tenstion would in time drive the graph and drive in teh longrun to realy bad reading on all media.

so at this time only 12x-14x is the maximum for 12x for all media 14x for most good grade a media.

Because The Dangerous Brothers released a new package containing a 12x and 14x version of their patched firmware, I have decided to take their cue and follow suit. The 165H is now available in 12x, 14x, and 16x flavors. However, because there exists an excellent tool, LtnRPC, that can region-free a drive (and you need to only do it once during the entire life of the drive), I have decided against making region-free versions of the 165H.

And thanks to the compression abilities of WinRAR, adding the 2 extra firmwares to the package increased the compressed package size by only 1 KB! (since all 3 firmwares are virtually identical, WinRAR optimized and stored all 3 in the space needed for 1… hehe)

/off topic
Hi all readspeed hackers, especially code65536. I have a question.
Lately I have been reading warning posts about readspeed hacked DVD-ROM-drives and combodrives reading TOO fast and possible issues connected to this, like damage to the drives.
My PIO DVD-106 readspeed is insane. This drives maxes out at 16X speed when reading/transfering burned DVD-ROMÂ´s (booktype DVD+RÂ´s).

Should I apply any tool or app to reduce readspeed? I have read about CDBremse… and some other tools.?

Well, the only problems that I know of from reading too fast is that for some burned discs, the faster speed will result in reading problems towards the end that could cause the drive to slow down. This is especially true when reading at 16x CAV. Not as true for 12x…

Up until now, I have been booktyping all my +R discs to -ROM so that I could fool my combo into reading at the full 16x. I’ve been doing this for a while now, and haven’t had problems reading at 16x.

Your drive should be able to handle 16x. I mean, it has to spin & read that fast when you feed it a pressed single-layer disc. So it’s within the drive’s specs to go that fast. Your drive was designed to go that fast, and as a result, I doubt that it would damage the drive.

Of course, although it’s all within specs, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good for your drive to push it so hard. I’d expect it to wear out the drive. But by the time the drive dies, it’ll be years down the line, and I would’ve moved on to something else by then anyway. I like to think of it as “only feeding my drive pressed single-layer -ROMs”

Another possible concern is whether the media can handle that stress, but I haven’t personally had any problems with my discs being spun that fast.

Thank you code65536 for the quick response and complete answer. I really appreciated it.
And by your words, I feel confident that this drive will serve me another one and a half year, as it has until today.

Originally posted by ViRuS2k even though that looks good and is 16x
we code65536 dangerous brothers, brother vlad and me did extensive testing and found from the liteon drives 14x is the max and should be that way becuse of the variations of media tested at 16x is not good.

I understand that, but my scan was made with non-patched official firmware. DVD-ROM booktype setting on +R fooled the drive. I just wanted to show that LTD-163 is capable of reading burned discs at higher-than-stock speeds (in this case, drive “thought” that this was a pressed disc) and wanted to know if readhack mod, similar to 165/166, is possible for 163 (ofcourse, 6-14x will do just fine ).

16x CAV is just fine, if your burns are of good quality. I originally went with 14x because for most people, that speed worked well. But for some people, 12x will work better. And for some people (like me), 16x works just fine (actually, even though the firmware I released for the 48x combo is 14x, the firmware that’s actually running on my system is set to 16x ;)).

So to reiterate, 14x was chosen because V2K/TDB didn’t want half the people complaining “but it slows down at the end!” In my most recent 165H release, I’m just going to let people pick what max speed they want, whether it’s 12, 14, or 16x.